White House Blocks Vacation Photos Of Sasha, Malia

A photographer who snapped photos of Sasha (pictured left)and Malia Obama (pictured right) during the Obamas’ Hawaii vacation last week has been banned from releasing the images, according to the U.K. Daily Mail.

The photog was in the area to capture a photo of Jessica Simpson as she left her nearby vacation home. Simpson soon reportedly saw the First Daughters walking by and decided to photograph them instead. Secret Servicemen who accompanied the girls immediately confronted him and demanded identification. They allowed the photographer to keep his camera, but warned him not to publish the photos.

But he would try to do just that, selling the pictures to agencies and receiving a cease-and-desist letter from the White House.

“Sasha and Malia’s privacy should be maintained as they were on a private holiday…and that other media had been respecting these requirements,” the letter stated to the photographer, whose name has yet to be released.

The Obamas have stern guidelines in place pertaining to their daughters in the media. During their private getaways, Sasha and Malia are not to be photographed; instead, they are only allowed to be photographed during official business. For the most part, news outlets have respected this rule. Many publications, for instance, were aware of Malia’s school visit to Mexico last year before a 7.4 magnitude earthquake impacted the country, but respectfully chose not to cover it. During that instance, White House officials released a statement saying Malia was safe and unharmed after the quake.

If the teenage Malia is not with her parents, the White House usually asks for her privacy in such instances as well.